1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to a device (particularly a metal hold-down) for fixing an electrical connector to a mother board, and a connector particularly a card edge connector with an ejector) including the connector fixing device.
2. The Prior Art
In order to fix an electrical connector to a mother board, a fixing device (also called board lock) was previously disclosed consisting of mounting posts integrally molded with a dielectric housing of the connector. When mounting the connector to the mother board, the posts are extended through corresponding holes in the mother board to interferentially engage therewith. However, such mounting posts do not securely engage with the mother board which may cause the connector to become loosened from the mother board while being subject to a reflow process for soldering the connector to the mother board. Furthermore, since the mounting posts are formed by plastic molding, they are not durable. Such designs integrally forming mounting posts with the housing of the connector are disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 80204998, 81212698, 81211344, 83200853 and 83205670.
To overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages, a fixing device formed by stamping a metal plate and commonly referred to as metal hold-down was later introduced. The metal hold-down has an upper portion fixed to the housing of the connector and a lower portion interferentially engaging with the mother board, thereby fixing the connector to the mother board. The locking effectiveness of the metal hold-down and the durability thereof are better than the mounting posts integrally formed with the housing of the connector. Prior art concerning the metal hold-down are disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 80207178, 80202099, 80213095, 81205296, 81901507, 81213628, 81212824, 81211189, 82204413, 83207736, 82107923 and 83106349.
However, for a card edge connector, particularly a DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module) connector with a card ejector, the housing thereof can only accommodate the metal hold-down if the length of the housing is increased, which opposes the trend of modern computer technology toward increasingly compact components.
Hence, a durable connector fixing device having adequate attachment capabilities is required for mounting to a connector without the necessity of increasing the length of the housing of the connector thereby eliminating the above-mentioned defects of current devices for fixing a connector to a mother board.